His Black Dispair
by FanoftheMask
Summary: This is basically a retelling of The Phantom of the Opera from Erik's point of view, beginning with Erik still living with his family.
1. Chapter 1

I'm not sure if this is any good, so pleeeeeeeease review!!!

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_Her voice was unbelievable. He had never heard anything like it. It was as if angels had come to Earth and were singing sweet songs._

_He could not see her. Why couldn't he see her?_

_She was singing in front of a man, maybe her father? He could clearly see the man. The man had dark brown curly hair and a mouth full of large, white teeth._

_The beautiful singing stopped abruptly, and the man started talking the girl. _

His dream was ended by his mother, Heather de Austlier's, loud calling.

"Etienne! Wake up! You need to start your chores."

_Hailey never has to do any chores, _Etienne thought scornfully. For as long as he could remember when his father was away, his sister never had to do any work around the house. As much as he hated to help his hateful mother, he knew she would soon be back.

He got up from his bed very reluctantly, groaning as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Etienne fumbled around his bed, looking for his mask. The black fabric was uncomfortable and did not fit properly, but his mother would never let him out of his room without it.

As he left his room, he purposely tried to avoid Heather and Hailey. They would have something extra for him to do, he was sure of it.

Walking outside toward the stables, he glanced at the perfection of the newly fallen snow. It was so white and so smooth that it appeared that nothing in this world could possibly destroy its splendor.

The stable was such a contrast to the faultless snow that it was almost an eyesore. The red paint was peeling, revealing the aging wood underneath.

He loved caring for the horses because they seemed to be the only creature, besides his father, that did not mind his deformity.

His favorite horse in the barn was a solid white stallion named Henri. Etienne had been there at Henri's birth, helping in the shadows of his father. During Henri's birth, his mother began having difficulties. Henri would not have survived if Etienne's father had not trusted him.

With a pat and a sugar cube, Etienne continued to measure the feed for each horse.

Back in his room, Etienne wandered to his window. Pulling back the curtain, he looked at the scenes outside. A small black dog trotted across the street, hardly leaving a footprint in the hard-packed snow. He watched the dog envious that the dog had unlimited freedom, while he was trapped in this house.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Etienne rose from the window and rushed to the door. An older man was holding a short message in his right hand. The man had a grim expression on his face. Unsure of what was happening; Etienne grabbed the note and thanked the man.

_We regret to inform you of Peter de Austlier's death._

The note was unsigned and unsympathetic. His mother was standing directly behind him, so he gave her the note and scurried to his room.

He sat on his bed and put his hands over his face and wept. The only person who had ever cared about him was gone and would never shield him from his mother ever again. His mask quickly became soggy, so he tore it off and threw it across the room.

After a while had passed, the sky outside had become dark, he calmed down. He rose from the bed and walked to the window. Although there was no dog there now, he could still remember that feeling of freedom that the dog must have felt. A sudden thought came to his mind, _Why don't I just leave. Father is never going to return. No one would miss me._

As he climbed through the window, one thought went through his mind, _Etienne de Austlier no more. Now, I am Erik. _


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Sorry for taking so long. Writers block and lost flashdrive. I promised myself I would update before my birthday, so here it is 11 days early. Please review!**_

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Being on his own was turning out to be harder than he imagined it would. For one, he was hungry. His stomach was protesting the lack of food. In his impulsive decision to leave his tortuous mother, he had not had time to pack anything with him.

As evening set, the aroma of dinner was wafting through the air. The smells of fresh bread, meat, and pies were too much for Erik to stand. His stomach began to grow even louder. So loud in fact that he wondered if the whole neighborhood could hear it.

Eventually he came across a small marketplace bursting with people trying to get last minute purchases before dinner.

Erik knew what he had to do. Even though he had never even attempted it, he quietly walked over to a stand selling bread. As quickly and quietly as he could, he snatched the nearest loaf and turned to run. The shopkeeper saw him and called, "Stop thief!"

Of course instead of stopping, he ran faster and didn't look back. He didn't slow until he had left the town and was in the middle of a meadow.

Panting, he plopped down on the soft grass to eat the stolen bread. His first meal on his own.

Throughout the next couple of days, Erik had plenty of chances to perfect his thievery. Some successful, some not. His stomach was never completely full.

The only plan in his mind was to head southeast. For as long as he could remember, he would look out of his bedroom window and dream of running off to Paris. Now that the courage was finally in him to leave, he was going to go to Paris.

Even at his young age, he knew to follow the sun towards the correct direction. He just didn't realize how far it actually was to his destination. After a week of walking he had not even gotten through Haute-Normandie. His legs were protesting each and every step he took. His lips begged for just a drop of water for his parched mouth. Erik was beginning to travel less and less every day. So when the gypsies offered him a ride, he didn't think twice before accepting.

On Erik's eighth day of walking, he came across a band of gypsies. As he turned to walk on the other side of the street as an attempt to hide his mask from the strangers near him, one of the gypsies called to him.

"Where you headed boy?" asked a tall, round man.

"Paris, sir," replied the boy, automatically turning to the man.

The gypsy man chuckled, "Well you have a long way to go, don't you?" Erik simply nodded. Seeing the mask on Erik's face, the man added, "Would you like to come with us? See we run something of a freak show and you'd be a great addition."

Erik didn't very much like the idea of being put on display, but his legs were so sore and his mouth so dry, he felt he had to accept. Wordlessly, he climbed into the wagon with the man.

Inside the wagon were a woman, two boys, and the man. As Erik helped himself to a vacated bench, the woman smiled reassuringly. When he had sat down for a minute, he felt a surge of relief from his exhausted legs.

"What is your name?" asked one of the boys after a few minutes of travel.

"Eti-Erik," replied Erik, almost revealing his former name.

"That's a real weird name," commented the other boy.

"Charles that was rude," admonished the woman. "This is Charles and his brother here is Gaston. The man over there is Andre and I'm Elizabeth-Anne." Andre apparently had resumed his position driving the horses, for Erik could no longer see him.

"Why does he wear a mask, Mama?" asked Charles, who was obviously the younger and more curious of the brothers.

"I don't know, Charles. Why don't _you _ask him?" This suggestion received an abrupt refusal. Turning to Erik she said, "You can feel free to take off that mask. It must be hot under that thing."

"No thank you, Madame. I never take it off."

Looking stunned, Elizabeth-Anne said, "Suit yourself."

When the wagons stopped for the night in a town on the outskirts of Evreux, some of the men took rifles into the woods to catch some dinner. While they were gone, Elizabeth-Anne gathered the children, Erik included, for some lessons.

As they went through the lessons, it became clear that Erik had not had any schooling before. The gypsy children may have been working the more difficult things such as writing and arithmetic, but Erik was simply studying the alphabet.

Erik was, however, proving to be a fast and eager learner. After the one hour lesson, he had already memorized the alphabet and had learned the sounds of the letters. He was excited to start reading. But the dinner bell had rung by this time and he was still hungry, so he had to go eat.

The amount of food he received was unimaginable. They had piled on the potatoes, carrots, and rabbit higher than he had ever seen. He hadn't had this much food since the last time his father had been home at his former home in Rouen. He ate every morsel on his plate.

When it was time for bed, he helped roll out the padded sheets for the wagons. By that time he was so drained it didn't take long before he was fast asleep.

_It was an incredibly windy day. They were at the sea._

_A red scarf. _

_A boy and girl._

_Suddenly the scarf was blown into the sea. The boy nicely dressed as he was ran into the icy water to fetch that girl's red scarf. _

_The boy returns soaking wet with the fugitive scarf. The girl laughs and gives him a huge hug and a soft peck on the cheek. _

_The boy wrings out the scarf in the sea and places it around the girl's neck. They both laugh loudly._

_**There is a link to the map I used in my profile.**_


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